Grand Oasis Palm Resort

All-Inclusive Resort with Beach Access and European Decor

Grand Oasis Palm Resort is located along a 650-foot stretch of beach at the north entrance of Cancún’s Hotel Zone. From here, you’re only steps from the pier, where ferryboats set off for the Mayan ruins and laid-back towns of Isla Mujeres. But it’s just as enjoyable to stay at the all-inclusive resort, where guests can get all their meals and drinks at any of the 10 onsite restaurants and bars. Load up plates at internationally themed buffets or dine outdoors, with options ranging from the seafood-centric La Bamba to a beachside sushi restaurant. The bars are just as varied—watch a game at the sports bar or indulge yourself at a cocktail lounge.

You don’t have to travel far for entertainment. The resort has weekly live shows, a pool with a swim-up bar, and a kids' club with arts-and-crafts activities. You’ll also have access to facilities at the adjacent sister hotel, Oasis Cancun Resort, which has a nine-hole golf course.

Guest rooms were designed with families in mind—they can accommodate up to two adults and two kids. All rooms overlook the Caribbean Sea and have European-style decor complete with marble accents throughout.

Cancún: Cool White Sands and Mayan Relics

Located on a barrier island shaped like the number seven, Cancún's Hotel Zone juts into the Caribbean Sea at the northeast tip of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. With the sea on one side and freshwater lagoons on the other, it's a popular spot for sailing and snorkeling. Although the beaches and barrier reefs are a major draw, the geography is equally enticing further inland, where you can dive into an underground river or take a speedboat through a mangrove jungle.

Cancún pulls in millions of visitors each year, so escaping the crowds and the party atmosphere isn't always easy, but a visit to Playa Delfines offers a chance for sunbathing in relative seclusion. Resorts have yet to encroach upon this stretch of sand, and it's especially popular with surfers.

The stone columns of El Rey Ruins, an ancient Mayan site dating back to the second and third centuries BCE, lie within the city’s Hotel Zone. Believed to be a royal burial ground, the archaeological site is also home to wild iguanas that lounge in the sun and read Tom Clancy novels. For a Mayan-themed daytrip, take a 1.5-hour drive from Cancún down the coast to Tulum, a pre-Columbian walled city located on a bluff overlooking the sea—one of the Yucatán Peninsula's most visited Mayan ruins. The Mayan city of Chichén Itzá, chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, is only a 2.5-hour drive from Cancún.